March 30, 2015 Home Warranties: Thanks and no thanks If you’re buying a home and a realtor or the seller gifts you a home warranty plan, you can say, “thank you very much.” If it’s one of the better plans, it can save you hassles and money on minor home repairs during the life…
March 28, 2015 Sandy insurance settlements won’t make homeowners whole The flood-insurance settlements being brokered for superstorm Sandy victims may be a victory for thousands of homeowners who have long waited for money to rebuild. Yet many, if not most, are still apt to come out behind. Federal law limits how much the National Flood…
March 26, 2015 FEMA will allow 144,000 Sandy victims to reopen insurance claims after fraud charges Updated March 25, 2015 10:04 PMBy JOE RYAN joe.ryan@newsday.com The National Flood Insurance Program plans to begin sending 144,000 letters in the coming weeks to homeowners from North Carolina to Maine to begin the complex job of reviewing claims for superstorm Sandy victims who suspect…
March 25, 2015 Why, and How, to Create a Home Inventory List Getting robbed, or losing everything you own to a catastrophic event, are scenarios you’d probably rather not think about. Yet many people face these situations as a result of a house fire, tornado or other natural disaster or break-in. Hopefully you have home insurance or…
March 24, 2015 Best Insurance Moves for April: Spring Cleaning for Your Insurance As you’re tackling dust bunnies and cluttered closets in your spring cleaning, don’t forget your insurance policies. They may need to be dusted off and refreshed, too. Reviewing and adjusting your insurance coverage is an important part of overall financial planning. Here’s what to look…
March 23, 2015 Price Optimization Allegations Challenged, NAIC Investigating Practice By Don Jergler | December 18, 2014Reaction to industry-wide price optimization allegations from a consumer group known to call out insurers has been somewhat critical yet guarded – however it appears regulators may already be starting to look into the practice.Consumer Federation of America this…
March 18, 2015 Colorado disasters lead to home insurance spikes, cancellations Colorado is now one of the worst places in the United States for natural disasters. That’s if your measure is insurance claims filed by homeowners. The state is now second only to tornado-struck Oklahoma for catastrophic claims, according to new data from the Insurance Research…
March 17, 2015 FEMA Seeks Thousands of Insurance Records The Federal Emergency Management Agency FEMA) is beginning its probe into the allegedly lowballed Superstorm Sandy claims by asking flood insurance companies to turn over thousands of records by the end of the week. The data request includes the name of the engineering company and…
March 14, 2015 Climate change calls for non-profit insurance In This Changes Everything, author Naomi Klein raises the question of how capitalist societies will “adapt” to the people made homeless and jobless by increasingly intense and frequent natural disasters. One of the issues she focuses on is the reaction of insurance companies, pointing out…
March 10, 2015 The 8 insurance coverages that are triggered by a catastrophic fire Although a little more than a month has gone by since the Avalon at Edgewater N.J.) fire on Jan. 21, insurance claims and lawsuits are likely to linger, long after the ashes have been swept away. This kind of catastrophe usually involves several insurance carriers,…
March 10, 2015 Best Insurance Moves for March Spring is just around the bend, but that doesn’t mean you’re finished with rough weather. In fact, depending on where you live, snowmelt can create a new hazard — one that’s not covered by standard homeowners insurance. That makes March an ideal time to look…
March 2, 2015 The Storm after the Storm The following is a script from “The Storm after the Storm” which aired on March 1, 2015. Sharyn Alfonsi is the correspondent. Oriana Zill de Granados and Michael Rey, producers.When Hurricane Sandy made its way towards the East Coast in the fall of 2012, residents…
February 27, 2015 FEMA Sued Over Records Related To Superstorm Sandy Victims And Other Flood Insurance Claims The Federal Emergency Management Agency is facing a new lawsuit filed by a nonprofit organization that wants a look at FEMA’s inner workings, especially the way its officials decide the fate of insurance appeals made by flood victims. United Policyholders, a San Francisco-based group that…
February 27, 2015 TOTALly worth the effort If your car is damaged in an accident to the point where repairs would cost more than the car is worth – it’s a “total loss.” Your, or the other driver’s insurance company, is supposed to offer you the actual cash value of your car.…
February 26, 2015 Nonprofit sues FEMA for records on disputed Sandy settlements A nonprofit organization that helps disaster victims file insurance claims has sued the Federal Emergency Management Agency, saying it ignored requests for documents related to disputed settlements from superstorm Sandy. United Policy Holders filed the federal lawsuit on Wednesday, accusing FEMA of violating the Freedom…
February 25, 2015 Good news for insured losses: 2014 was a relatively quiet year Guy Carpenter & Company, LLC, a global risk and reinsurance specialist, today released its annual Global Catastrophe Review, which reports that insured losses in 2014 were at the lowest level seen since 2009. According to the report, significant insured losses in 2014 totaled approximately $33…
February 24, 2015 Letter to American Law Institute regarding allocation rules in the draft Restatement (formerely Principles) of the Law of Liability Insurance “The default rule [in allocation cases] should be “all sums” or joint and several liability, and that the burden for contribution and subrogation should be on the insurer, not the policyholder. Without a doubt, the law should encourage the timely availability of insurance funds to…
February 24, 2015 Freedom of Information Act Request to DHS FEMA – WYOs and IAs On February 23, 2015, UP submitted a third Freedom of Information Act request to FEMA for information on the National Flood Insurenace Program. In this request, UP sough information on the contracts between Write-Your-Own insurers and Independent Adjusters in order to determine how payments and…